So, my post surgery visit with the doctor went well. It's been a few weeks, so it's a little foggy, but the explanation I received was that my skin surrounding the follicle was "mushy", and they couldn't be extracted cleanly. She and her 2 other technicians experienced the same unusual difficulty their own preferred tools. She said she did some research, and finasteride, which I have been taking for a year prior, has been known to improve this. But it didn't seem to make any difference in my case. She would only be willing to do the FUT (strip) procedure, which I have no interest in. I want the freedom to shave my head.
I'm really interested in knowing if anyone else on here has had this happened. I'm currently waiting for everything to heal 100% and looking a solid FUE surgeon with many procedures under his belt in the meantime.
Thanks all.

Melvin, I was distracted by an established rapport during the PRP sessions. Still my fault for taking this decision lightly. I thought if I asked enough questions it would make up for it. I was wrong. Do you have a short list of doctors that do the extractions themselves? I live in the Kansas City area. So, if there is one nearby or one that offers online consultations that would be ideal. The next option would be NYC.
John,
Thanks again for the feedback on the ingrown hairs. It already is looking better. You said I should find another FUE doctor right away. I am going to see a local one that uses the ARTAS procedure tomorrow. Not necessarily for the ARTAS procedure, but more for a second opinion on the donor area recovery expectations. I think I'm going to wait ~6 months for everything to heal, unless a doctor convinces me otherwise. Is there a particular reason you suggest finding another doctor right away? Just curious. At this point, I'm most interested in a doctor that is dedicated to hair transplants and has many years of doing the FUE extractions himself. I'll keep you posted on the post-op visit with the doctor on Wednesday as well.
Thanks again.

Thanks for the response, John. It was 2 technicians doing the extractions. They were using .08, .09, and .1 mm sized punches. I was able to ask and remember that. I'm guessing they were changing the size in attempt to improve their results. The depth I do not remember.. 4 something is all I recall. 4mm maybe? Does that sound right? The doctor was a general plastic surgeon that does not specialize in hair transplants. I do remember her saying that she does do the incisions for placement. That is all. The technicians do the rest. She was doing PRP injections for me for a period of time, so I established a level of trust with her, along with her choice in staff doing the extractions.
The questions I have so far are:
Why exactly did the extractions not work?
Are the follicles permanently damaged?
How long will it take to know for sure?
Should I expect ingrown hairs?
Why did it take 300 attempts to realize something wasn't right?
Is there anything you can do to help the donor site heal? PRP for example?
That's all I can think of right now. But, I'm open to suggestions. Is there anything else you think I should ask?
Thanks again.

It's been a day since I've had my failed FUE transplant. I purchased 1000, and 2 hours into the procedure, I was told that only 20% of the harvested graphs were usable out of the ~300 harvested so far. The explanation did not make sense to me, but I was under heavy sedation. I was told I'm not a FUE candidate. I'm scheduled for a follow up next week, and I hope to get a better explanation.
What I'm concerned with is the ~300 harvested sites that may or may not be permanently damaged. The technician said I would potentially have ingrown hairs. Has anyone experienced this type of failure rate before? I was thinking maybe 5 - 10 percent failure, but 80%!?! I'm also disappointed that the Dr. nor the technician didn't stop a little sooner once the failure rate was observed to be so high. Hair follicles are a limited resource. I did get a full refund, but am still not happy with their waiting so long to make a decisions to stop.
Has anyone experience something like this before?
Thanks all.